melatonin
by sweet sweet heartkiller
Summary: ness.lucas / every skyline and every night spent alone are tearing you apart.


**title;** melatonin  
**author;** kallemariPOP  
**rating;** ... huh. somewhere between k-plus and t, maybe? this is hard to define.  
**wordcount;** 1159  
**disclaimer;** characters belong to Nintendo / Shigesato Itoi / APE INC., not me. Which is a good thing.  
**notes;** Originally written for the SSB Kink Meme on livejournal; judging from the fact that it _wasn't_ failcakes like I'd thought it would be, I'm outing myself here. Joy! Also, there are some slight _Mother 3_ spoilers, so take caution.

――

Battling on the New Pork City stage always tended to make Lucas feel uneasy; mainly it was all the bad connotations and memories that being surrounded by such fearsome technology that bothered him, but there was also the matter of the Ultimate Chimera that would occasionally spawn to torment him and the others -- _how did it get there if this is only a replica of the real city?_ he'd found himself wondering in some of his solitary moments. _Did it find its way there on its own? Or was it brought in by someone...? ... And if it was, then wouldn't the people that_ did _bring it be..._

He would shake his head frantically whenever this train of thought would occur, attempting to shake the negativities out of his mind and focusing on more pleasant things for the time being.

But that night, all the welcome thoughts in the world couldn't dispel the darker dreams that would haunt Lucas later as he tried to sleep the day's worth of damage away. They came in flashes, rapid-fire shadow slivers and gleaming teeth bared before his very eyes, the briefest hint of the smell of blood at his nose.

_i don't want to be here i don't want to be here help please help me don't let it come any closer --_

_mom -- claus --_

SNAP.

――

Lucas bolted upright in bed with a loud gasp, as if he was literally drowning in his nightmare and needed to escape. He glanced about the room frantically; the familiar walls of the dorm room he'd been assigned surrounded him, shrouded by the cover of moonlight from the adjacent window.

He sighed in relief, then gazed over at his roommate, who was still snoozing peacefully in his own bed. How the tournament sponsors decided that Lucas should room with Ike, he would never know, but he was at least glad that he wasn't awake to witness the poor boy's thrashing about in his warped little dreamland.

_But... now I don't think I want to go to bed anymore. Not after that,_ he imagined, shuddering at the thought of falling asleep and coming face-to-face with... _that_ thing again.

Wiping the sweat off his brow, he shuffled out of bed, pajamas and all, and ambled towards the door leading out to the other fighters' dorms.

――

Ness lazily rolled over onto his side as he slept, snuggling closer into his blankets. As a three-time veteran of the tournament, he was granted access to one of the few single rooms available; while it made privacy issues a whole lot simpler, it was a lot harder to fall asleep without someone around to ease the overall silence. Occasionally he'd call back home to his mother, or to Paula if she was at home, but phone calls were much too expensive for the time he would spend chatting.

At least today, he'd been sufficiently worn out from having sparred with Dedede earlier -- being chased around by Waddle Dees was no picnic, but he'd only come out with a few scrapes and a great need to hit the hay.

Mumbling into his pillow (something along the lines of 'porterhouse' and 'seconds',) he rolled back over onto the other side, clutching his blanket and wearing an unconscious expression of sheer bliss on his face... before said face came in contact with a head of fluffy blond hair.

"--aa-CHOO!"

Startled, Lucas shrunk all the way back to the edge of the bed as Ness rubbed his eyes and nose. "Mm... what the -- uh... hi?" he greeted the younger boy incredulously, still disoriented from the sudden wake-up call.

"Um... uh, sorry, sorry! I, uh -- um..." How in the world could Lucas explain this away without sounding like a complete and total weakling? This was the legendary hero everyone on the Nowhere Islands talked about, and here he was, cowering before him all because --

"You had a nightmare, huh?"

"...! ... Um. Yeah... sort of," he admitted sheepishly. In his bewilderment, he'd almost forgotten about his psychic abilities... _but the other fighters said he couldn't read minds, could he?_

Ness curled back into the covers, resting back on the pillow and grinning slightly. "I used to be like that all the time when I was really, really young. I'd run into my mom's bedroom whenever I got scared, and she'd stay up with me telling me stories until I felt it was okay for me to go back to bed." He laughed, turning back onto his side to face Lucas. "I guess some of us tend to outgrow that faster than others, though..."

Lucas blushed; at first, he'd interpreted that as a bit of a jab on his behalf but Ness's tone proved otherwise. "Is that so..." he wondered aloud, shifting back into the bed with trepidation.

"Yeah, I don't have as many nightmares as I used to after everything that happened back home, but I have to tell ya -- being alone in a place like this... it's a little unnerving sometimes," Ness replied.

Fidgeting a bit underneath the sheets, Lucas glanced back over at the older boy with a twinge of sympathy. If even a legendary hero could become nervous like he could, then... _maybe I don't have anything to be ashamed about after all. Maybe, all he and I really need is..._

Ness blinked, cocking his head a bit before he found the space between himself and the younger boy shrink considerably. He didn't think someone as shy as Lucas was could be so forward (if that was a good word for it, anyway,) but the sudden rush of warmth he felt surrounding him _was_ particularly welcoming. "Eh...?"

"If... if it's all right with you, Ness... c-can I stay here with you tonight?" Lucas asked shyly, gripping the edge of the sheet. "I mean, it'd probably be better for both of us if... well, I mean, it's better to overcome scary things with a friend, right?"

The older boy stared for a moment in contemplation; he was a little taken aback at first, because hey -- what would you do if someone climbed into your bed and wanted to stay the night, _honestly_ -- but after a moment, he scooted over in silent agreement, a small, relieved smile on his face. He _did_ have a point, after all.

And with that, the two boys closed their eyes, holding tight to sheets and pillows, and allowed themselves to drift off into sleep once more.

――

Everything was coming in flashes in Lucas's mind once more. The rapid-fire shadow slivers and gleaming teeth, the smell of blood assailing him -- but before the carnage could progress any further, there was a sudden blinding distortion of whiteness and the loud _crack!_ of a baseball bat.

He'd opened his eyes; the monsters were gone, and the shadows had been effectively chased away. And Ness was there beside him, wielding the bat with a big grin on his face.

Lucas smiled back, for the first time since the dreams had begun. In his own mind, he was finally safe and sound.

( end )


End file.
